Men's Volleyball | 4/30/2026 10:14:00 AM

Friday, May 1 | Loyola Chicago | Long Beach, Calif. | LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid | 7 p.m. PST/ 10 p.m. EST | LIVE STATS | WATCH LIVE

OPENING SERVE VS LOYOLA CHICAGO
Saint Francis will face Loyola Chicago for the 19th time dating back to 2006. Last year the Red Flash lost to the Ramblers (0-3). Brady Stump collected five kills and an ace while Kyle Charles had 19 assists, two kills, and two digs. 2016 was the last time that Saint Francis beat Loyola Chicago, and that was in a five-set thriller. The Red Flash are looking to bring back a win and advance to the next round.

THE WORD ON THE RAMBLERS
The Ramblers head into this tournament with an overall record of 20-8, and 12-4 conference record. Loyola Chicago split with Hawaii, Ohio State, and Purdue Fort Wayne, lost to UCLA, Pepperdine, Lindenwood, and Ball State twice. They beat Stanford, Quincy, Manhattan, UC San Diego, Rockhurst, Ball State, McKendree twice, Lewis three times, Northern Kentucky twice, and Queens twice. Loyola Chicago advanced to the NCAA Tournament after receiving an at-large bid. They were runner-ups in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) Tournament. The Ramblers fell to No.1 Ball State (0-3) after beating No.7 Purdue Fort Wayne (3-1) and No.6 Lewis (3-0). Daniel Fabikovic leads Loyola Chicago with 267 kills and runs second in digs (131) and blocks (62). JJ Sowa leads with 176 digs, Ryan McElligott paces with 626 assists, and Aidan Klein leads with 94 blocks and 26 aces.

PRESEASON POLL 
Saint Francis men's volleyball was picked to tie first in the NEC Preseason Poll. Daemen earned three first-place votes while the Red Flash claimed two. LIU and FDU both took a first-place nod to finish in third and fourth. Following behind, the newly added teams, Manhattan and UMES finish fifth and sixth. Rounding out the poll was D'Youville in seventh. 

NEXT TIME OUT 
If Saint Francis wins on Friday, they will advance to the Regional Finals to face No.3 Long Beach State. 

RETURNERS TO TALK ABOUT
Brady Stump returns as one of the team's top leaders in kills (266), digs (99), blocks (40), and aces (25). During the 2025 campaign, the All-NEC first team outside hitter was seventh in kills per set, eighth in points per set, and 10th in hitting percentage in the NEC. So far this season, the one time NEC Player of the Week has recorded 313 kills, 107 digs, 53 aces, and 25 blocks. He was named to the All-NEC First Team.  

Sam Lane also registered 135 kills and 65 blocks, coming in eighth in blocks per set in 2025. He was named to the All-NEC second team due to his dominant blocking abilities. Lane registered a season high of five blocks against Erskine back in April. In 2026, the senior collected 130 kills, 67 blocks, 25 digs, and a hitting percentage of .459. 

Kyle Charles returns to collect more assists as he paced assists per set (9.97) in the NEC. He was announced as the NEC Rookie of the Year and All-NEC first team in 2025. The sophomore racked up three double double and had a season best of 62 assists versus Dominican. Charles collected 887 assists, 106 digs, 46 blocks, and 43 kills. The setter is starting 2026 off with 739 assists, 111 digs, 45 kills, and 31 blocks. He was named to the All-NEC First Team. 

Back as a graduate student, Richard Kaminski continues to look for digs in the backrow. The libero recorded 10+ digs seven times, accumulating 142 digs and 37 assists in the previous season with the Red Flash. Kaminski finished third in the NEC with total digs and seventh in digs per set. He registered 87 digs and 27 assists for the Red Flash to end the season.  

Nathan Zini returns after a season ending injury to compete in the 2026 campaign. In 2024, the opposite hitter was named NEC Player of the Year, All-NEC first team, and AVCA All-American honorable mention. He registered 410 kills, 125 digs, 63 aces, and 31 blocks. His 63 aces were the most across both Division I and Division II men's volleyball. The graduate student has 214 kills, 119 digs, 28 blocks, and 25 aces in his return to volleyball.

WELCOME TO THE LO' 
Three freshman are looking for their collegiate debut this weekend: Gianluca Gomez (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Saint Joseph Metuchen), Alexander Owens (Tuscon, Ariz./Salpointe Catholic), and Andre Pimienta (Los Angeles, Calif./Wisebum Da Vinci).   

Nate Duff (Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial) had his first collegiate start again BYU where he collected four digs and a kill. He has registered 33 digs, two assists, and one kill this year. 

Jack Wolgemuth (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) had six digs in his collegiate debut in the win against Northern Kentucky. After this weekend, he recorded 135 digs and 12 assists in total this season. 

Derek Piatek (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mars Area) had his collegiate debut in the win against Northern Kentucky with an ace. This year he collected 20 digs, 15 kills, five aces, and two assists. 

Tate Myatt (Chicago, Ill./Lane Tech) recorded his collegiate debut in a win against Roberts Wesleyan with a kill. He is ending the season with 13 blocks, 12 kills, four digs, and three assists. 

Luke Colquette (Highlands ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista) had his collegiate debut against Hawaii with a kill. He has had 31 kills, 12 digs, and seven blocks so far this season. 

ABOUT THE COACH 
Mike Rumbaugh enters is 28th season as the Saint Francis men's volleyball head coach in 2026. He was named NEC Coach of the Year for the fourth year straight. Rumbaugh is the second head coach in program history, after Gary Evangelisto, who guided the program for the first 15 years (1984-98).  Rumbaugh was named the NEC Coach of the Year for the third-straight campaign. Prior to joining the NEC, Rumbaugh and the Red Flash was a member of the EIVA for the first 24 years as a head coach. Saint Francis registered a winning overall season 10 times during this stretch and participated in the EIVA Tournament 10 times, advancing to the EIVA Championship Game four times (2006, 2007, 2016, and 2017) and winning the EIVA Hay Division twice (2001, 2005). Rumbaugh arrived in Loretto in 1998 after serving a six-year term as an assistant coach with the men's and women's volleyball teams at Mercyhurst College. Rumbaugh is a certified official by the United States of America Volleyball Association. He has served as an instructor at USA High Performance and Regional High Performance Camps, and coached the USA Continental Youth Team against domestic and international opponents at the USA Select Competition.